Revisit the Broad

If you haven't been to the Broad Museum for a while, it is time to return.  The featured exhibit is "Soul of a Nation," exploring the interrelationship of art and Black activism.

A new light installation has a much shorter wait than the infinity exhibit on the first floor.

A Jeff Koons recently sold for 91.5 million dollars.  You can see them for free.

The Wrong Path

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez poked the conservative bear when she proclaimed that Donald Trump is taking us down the path to fascism.  The bear roared and rumbled before returning to its dumpster dive.

Most assuredly America is far, far from fascism.   But we are closer than we have ever been.  Here are the degrees of proximity.

Fascism and Trumpism are populist movements fueled by fear and hatred of "the other."  For fascism it was the Jews, for Trumpism it is brown immigrants, although hate crimes against minorities, including Jews, is on the rise.  Trumpism and fascism attack the basic structure of civil society and government in order to centralize power in the hands of the leader.  As part of that, both Fascism and Trumpism label the free press, "the enemy of the people."

Fascists created the "big lie."  Say something often enough, and boldly, and the public will believe.   Trump follows in their footsteps.

Trump does not have "brown shirts," but although mouthing the occasional criticism, has been remarkably tolerant towards white supremacists.

The biggest difference is than while Hitler murdered millions in death camps, Trump is merely separating asylum seekers from their children, and mistreating both parents and kids.

As we watch our president stage a totalitarian style military parade on this precious 4th day of July, we must question whether he is taking us on the right path.

Feeling a Draft

After 8 years in a bubble, Michelle Obama is reveling in family, friends and pet projects.  She has no personal political goals, and has pointedly eschewed a presidential run.  Running for president is a multiyear slog, with the first debates starting nearly 15 months before the election.  She wants no part of it.

But for Democrats the allure of Michelle is irresistible.  Michelle Obama was the most admired woman in a recent poll.  But unlike the prior winner, Hillary Clinton, who may also have been the most disliked woman, Michelle has few haters.  Her approval/disapproval differential is off the charts.  She would fire up the base without inspiring the opposition.

She must be furious at her husband's legacy dismantled, and his reputation trampled, by an odious imposter.  Opposition to Trump is not political, it is moral.  No one expects Michelle to throw her hat in the ring,  Instead, if the Democratic presidential nominee comes as a suitor on bended knee, we hope she will accept the Vice Presidency.

Running for VP is not the marathon of the presidency, but just a 4 month sprint to the finish.  As Vice President she could accept as much, or as little responsibility as she chooses.  With Trump out of office, she could decline to run for a second term.

The stakes are so high, that we are humbly asking Michelle to go all in on a game she does not want to play.

Pathway to Hell

I have long expressed my "Pathway to Heaven Theory."  Each individual believes that his or her greatest strength is the most important virtue.  Those gifted with great brain power value intelligence above all else.  Those who are at perfect weight consider that fundamental.  Wealthy men, like our president, give that preeminence.

But only now, is it clear that the opposite is also true.  Those with serious character flaws believe all others have the same deficiencies.  For we all want to think well of ourselves.  The President is hellfire in chief.  He, did, and would, accept help from foreign powers, because anyone would do it.  An inveterate liar, he blames all others for spreading fake news.

Because of his low moral standards,  Trump can only maintain his ego and sense of self worth by dragging the entire country down to his level.  We are going to hell in a Trump branded hand basket.

Security

Intelligence sources must be as sacred as the confessional.  They must not be sacrificed on the altar of  politics and expediency.  The larger, and more diverse the congregation, the better the chance of deferring judgement day.

A few empty foreign pews were spotted after Trump blew an Israeli source during an oval office laugh fest with the Russian ambassador.  The collection plate may be empty now that the president has a Barr in the China, Russia and Saudi shop.  Fear of exposure will discourage future recruits.

For our intelligence services, what they do not know can hurt us.  One source too few, may result in a multitude of deaths.

End Game

People of good faith could debate well into the night whether incompetence or corruption are the hallmark of this administration.  But none can deny the sickly sweet smell of mendacity oozing from every pore of the White House and from every 35 dollar pour at the Trump DC Hotel.

The lies are beyond number and the greed without limit.  One hundred and two million dollars of tax payer money has been spent to date at Trump properties for his golf outings.  When Saudi Arabia needed to curry favor with the administration, they booked an entire floor at his hotel.  Others such as T-Mobile have followed suit, in only slightly less grandiose ways.   His designated czar for the Middle East, Kushner, punished Qatar when it failed to come through with a 400 million dollar loan for his family business.

Saudi Arabia has been happy to supply the needed funds.  The Crown Prince has been amply rewarded by the downplaying of the murder of a Washington Post Journalist, and a weapon deal in defiance of Congress.

Then of course, there are the web of threats to the interests of America that fit under the rubric of Russia and Putin, including the related obstruction of justice.

Trump must be removed from office.  Unfortunately, unless after pigs grow wings, Republicans grow their own additional appendages, the subsequent Senate trial will flounder.  GOPers will place personal and party interests before country.

Conversely, just beating Trump in 2020 is not enough to restore the rule of law and the sense of decorum.  Impeachment and criminal proceedings are also necessary.  So after we move heaven and earth (he has hell locked up), to defeat Trump, we must have a lame duck impeachment session.  The politics will be greatly diminished, if not totally removed.

The American people will be able to see the nature of the beast who ruled them without a hint of beauty.

Mobility

The American Dream is a bumper sticker without a bumper.  Upward mobility, symbolized by 1950s automobiles, has jammed in a massive pile up.   Public transportation is needed.

In the aftermath of WWII, America was largely unscathed, and at full industrial production.   Our allies were crippled by a costly victory, and axis powers, by an even more crippling defeat.  American industrial might was unchallenged.  The big three auto makers, facing no credible competition, could afford to buy labor peace rather than squeeze every dollar out of union negotiations.

The middle class surged.  Workers could put their children through college, and maybe even have a little vacation cottage on a lake in northern Michigan.  Charitably, this is the great America symbolized by the Trump sea of red hats.  But reversion to the mean, is a social, as well as statistical, reality.  Globalization was inevitable.  Not even the unlikely return of industrial jobs, would herald the return of 1950s industrial salaries.

Third world level income inequality, is the product of social stagnation.  A permanent under class will eventually become self aware, with dire consequences.  Therein lies the appeal of Elizabeth Warren's plan to tax the ultra wealthy to subsidize college tuition.

Education increases income.  We can argue about details of taxation and tuition subsidies.  We can consider steps to slow the rise in the cost of a college education and alternatives to traditional colleges.  But high paying industrial jobs are the shiny chrome of the past.  The glow of the future is on computer screens and smart phones.   We need a new path to upward mobility.